Striking casting with integral front draft lugs



April 12, 1955 K. F. NYSTROM 2,706,051

STRIKING CASTING WITH INTEGRAL FRONT DRAFT LUGS Filed Sept. 12, 1950 4 Shets-Sheet 1 j I E- l IN V EN TOR.

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April 12, 1955 K. F. NYSTROM STRIKING CASTING WITH INTEGRAL FRONT DRAFT LUGS Filed Sept. 12. 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. 4K gzv o/fko/wv, A 77 0RA/Y l I L o United States Patent STRIKIN G CASTING WITH INTEGRAL FRONT DRAFT LUGS Karl F. Nystrom, Nashotah, Wis., assignor to International Steel Company, Evansville, Ind., a corporation of Inana Application September 12, 1950, Serial No. 184,445

3 Claims. (Cl. 213-50) My invention relates broadly to railway rolling stock and more particularly to an improved construction of striking casting with integral front draft lugs.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide an improved construction of striking casting with integral front draft lugs for facilitating the assembly of the striking iasting with respect to the center sill of railway rolling stoc Still another object of my invention is to provide an improved construction of striking casting in which a relatively large bearing surface for the draft key is assured in the assembling constituted by the striking casting and the center sill.

Another object of my invention is to provide a construction of striking casting for assembly in the center sill of railway rolling stock utilizing an improved welding arrangement for insuring more rapid and reliable assembly.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a construction of striking casting for railway rolling stock having oppositely extending draft lugs which coact with slots formed in the ends of opposite sides of the center sill for facilitating the assembly of the striking casting within the center sill and providing extending horizontally bearing surfaces for the draft key.

Other and further objects of my invention reside in the construction of striking casting with integral front draft lugs as set forth more fully in the specification hereinafter following by reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 represents a conventional underframe for railway rolling stock to which the improved construction of my invention is applied; Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the striking casting of my invention with integral front draft lugs connected therewith and about to be moved into position beneath the front end of the center sill of the underframe of the railway rolling stock; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the front ends of the frame members constituting the center sill, the frame members being slightly spaced in juxtaposition to explain the assembly more clearly; Fig. 4 illustrates the striking casting after it has been moved into position and welded in the front end of the center sill; Fig. 5 is a front end view of the striking casting on a somewhat enlarged scale and showing the front draft lugs thereon; Fig. 6 is a plan view of the striking casting in assembled relation to the front of the center sill with certain of the, parts broken away and illustrated in horizontal section; Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional view on line 77 of Fig. 4 and showing the parts completely assembled and welded and the draft key in position; Fig. 8 is a vertical transverse sectional view on line 8-8 of Fig. 6; Fig. 9 is a top plan view of the center sill partially broken away and shown in section and illus trating in top plan view the striking casting of my invention; Fig. 10 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view taken on line 1010 of Fig. 9; and Fig. 11 is a horizontal sectional view of the striking casting taken substantially on line with the horizontally extending slots for the reception of the draft key.

My invention is directed to an improved construction of striking casting which may be readily assembled with the center sill of railway rolling stock and readily welded in position to provide a large bearing surface for the draft key. The assembly operation in the improved construction of my invention is facilitated by slotting the ends of the center sill to enable the striking casting to be moved into position by sliding the striking casting into the slotted end of the center sill with parts of the striking casting extending outwardly and inwardly with respect to the slots in the center sill providing large bearing surfaces for the draft key. The striking casting is so shaped at the peripheral edges thereof as to facilitate assembly within the underside of the center sill and permit welding of thcle striking casting into position in the end of the center sil Referring to the drawings in detail reference characters 1 and 2 designate the coacting parts of the center sill in a railway car underframe designated generally at 3 in Fig. l. The underframe 3 is provided with the bolster frames 4 and 5 adjacent opposite ends thereof. The striking casting with integral front draft lugs in accordance with my invention extends within the center sill as indicated at 6 and 7 in Fig. 1. The construction of each of the striking castings with integral front draft lugs and the coaction thereof with the parts of the center sill are shown more particularly in Figs. 2-8.

In Fig. 2 I have shown the striking casting 6 prior to assembly in the end of the center sill. The center sill formed by the coacting aligned members 1 and 2 has the end thereof slotted to receive the striking casting. Each of the elements 1 and 2 is formed by a vertically extending web designated at 1a and 2a with flange portions 1b and 2b directed toward each other in coplanar arrangement and flange portions 10 and 2c directed away from each other in coplanar arrangement. The member 1 is provided with an end slot 1d and the coacting member 2 is provided with an end slot 2d which are laterally aligned for receiving the transversely extending positioning members 8 and 9 of the striking casting 6. These positioning members 8 and 9 project both inwardly and outwardly with respect to the webs 1a and 2a of the slots 1d and 2d in the vertically extending flanges 1a and 2a of the members 1 and 2. The positioning members 8 and 9 are integrally connected with the draft lugs 10 and 11 at the front of the striking casting. The longitudinally extending corner portions of the striking casting represented at 6, for example, are each chamfered as represented at 12 and 14 to enable the striking casting to be readily aligned with the end of the center sill and to facilitate welding of the striking casting within the center sill. The slots 1d and 2d have a width exceeding the vertical dimension of the outwardly directed portions of the positioning members 8 and 9 to facilitate the welding of the positioning members 8 and 9 in the slots 1d and 2d as represented at 15 and 16. The chamfered corner portions 12 and 14 permit an extended wire-like welding tool to be inserted between the corner portions of the striking casting and the coacting parts of the center sill 1 and 2. The striking casting includes upper inwardly directed portions 17 and 18 which abut against the lower interior faces of the coacting parts 1 and 2 of the center sill and provide edge surfaces which may be welded at 19 and 20 to the undersurfaces of the parts 1 and 2 of the center sill. The vertically extending walls 21 and 22 of the striking casting are welded at their lower ends as represented at 23 and 24 to the interior surfaces of webs 1a and 2a of parts 1 and 2 of the center sill.

The bearing surfaces of the positioning members 8 and 9 are relatively wide as compared to the thickness of the webs 1a and 2a of the coacting parts 1 and 2 as represented at 8a and 9a throughout the forward portion of their length immediately behind the integral front draft lugs 10 and 11 and taper outwardly to a maximum width 8b and 9b and the rear end of the striking casting thus providing a relatively wide bearing surface for the draft key represented at 25 in Fig. 7. The maximum bearing surface for supporting the draft key is located at the rear of the striking casting and tapers toward the integral front draft lugs 10 and 11. The length of the relatively wide bearing surface is greater than the width of the draft key. The relatively wide bearing surface extends approximately one half the length of the positioning member.

Figs. 7 and 8 more clearly show the advantages obtained by the inwardly and outwardly projecting bearing surfaces 8 and 9 on opposite sides of the vertically extending sides 1a and 2a of the center sill 1 and 2. These spaced coacting surfaces provide means for the translatory displacement of the draft key 25 in various lateral positions behind the front draft lugs of the striking casting.

Figs. 9, and 11 show more clearly the manner in which the striking casting fits into the slotted end of the center sill. The lower faces of the rear of the striking casting at 28 and 29 abut against the laterally extending flanges 1c and 2c as limit stops and a welded connection is made across the top of the striking casting with the top of the coplanar portions 1b and 2b of the center sill as represented at 30 in Fig. 10 in addition to the Welded connection at 15 and 16 between the slotted bearing surfgfies 8 and 9 and the side walls 111 and 2a of the center s The simplicity of the assembly operation between the striking casting and the center sill in accordance with my invention has been found to be highly practical although I realize that modification in detail in the structure of my invention may be made. I desire that it be understood that no limitations upon my invention are intended other than may be imposed by the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is as follows:

1. A striking casting with integral front draft lugs for railway car underframe construction comprising in combination with the center sill of a car underframe in which the center sill is formed by an inverted channelshaped structure having a top portion, a pair of vertically disposed spaced side walls and a pair of coplanar horizontally extending flange portions, in which the side walls of the center sill each have open slots therein, a striking casting having a body portion substantially conforming with the interior section of the channel-shaped structure of the center sill with integral front draft lugs connected therewith and wherein the opposite sides of said striking casting carry horizontally disposed positioning members each adapted to slidably enter the slotted sides of the center sill with the horizontal exterior surfaces of said members spaced from the peripheral edges of said slotted sides and With the ends of the slots in the said sides of the center sill constituting limiting stops with respect to the movement of the striking casting into the center sill and the intermediate portion of said striking casting between the integral front draft lugs and said body portion serving as an abutment stop with respect to the flanges of said center sill for limiting the entry of said striking casting into the end of the center sill and a welded seam connection between the exterior portions of the peripheral edges of the slots in the said positioning members and the side walls of said center sill around the top and bottom peripheral portions of the said slots, said positioning members providing internally disposed bearing surfaces extending both inwardly and outwardly with respect to the side walls of said center sill for slidably supporting a draft key thereon throughout the entire length of the slots.

2. A striking casting with integral front draft lugs for railway car underframe construction as set forth in claim 1 in which the bearing surfaces for the draft key on said positioning members are tapered from a minimum width constituted by the inward and outward projection of said positioning members with respect to the side walls of the center sill adjacent the open slots in said center sill to a maximum width adjacent the closed ends of the slots in the center sill the maximum width portions of said positioning members extending for approximately one half the length thereof and said maximum width portions being longer than the width of the associated draft key.

3. A striking casting with integral front draft lugs for railway car underframe construction as set forth in claim 1 in which theopen slots in the sides of the center sill terminate in coplanarvspaced edges and wherein the outwardly projecting portions of the positioning members are so spaced from the said coplanar edges of the open slots in the side walls of the center sill when the top of the casting abuts against the undersurface of the center sill that a uniform seam weld may be effected around the outwardly projecting portions of the positioning members for securing the positioning members within the slots in the end of the center sill.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,786,914 Martin Dec. 30, 1930 1,804,080 Barrows May 5, 1931 1,877,335 Lounsbury Sept. 13, 1932 1,881,226 OConnor Oct. 4, 1932 2,143,216 Tesseyman et al. Jan. 10. 1939 2,238,171 Johnson et a1. Apr. 15, 1941 

